1. Field
The disclosure relates generally to deploying applications within a cloud infrastructure. More specifically, the disclosure relates to optimizing deploying application components among various nodes and virtual machines within a cloud infrastructure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Object-oriented programming (“OOP”) methodologies are well known and widely adopted, as they promote efficient team development of software products, allow minimized maintenance activities, and provide abilities to easily and dependably integrate modules and objects from older designs, other designers, and new designs together.
In contrast to procedural programming methodologies, OOP allows programmers to define data types of data structures and types of operations or functions which can be performed on those data structures, which defines the data structure as an “object”. Relationships between objects may be defined, as well, such that some objects may share or “inherit” characteristics from other objects, allowing variations of existing objects to be quickly and efficiently developed. Categories of objects are referred to as a “class” of objects. Objects of a given class share common properties as defined by the class.
A number of companies have developed and marketed software development tools which support OOP programming languages (“OOPL”), including but not limited to Xerox Corporation's Smalltalk, Bell Laboratory's C++, Microsoft Corporation's Visual C++, Sun Microsystems' Java, and Open Management Group's (“OMG”) Unified Modeling Language (“UML”) are programming languages which, among others, implement OOP concepts and methodologies.
In particular, Sun Microsystem's Java language has gained widespread use for its support of Internet technologies, such as “applets” and embedded Java scripts in web pages, “servlets” which can be run by a web server or application program server, etc. Java is especially useful for its portability or non-machine-specific design, which enables Java code to be run or executed by any computing platform which is equipped with a Java interpreter. The “open” nature of Sun's Java specifications has also allowed many vendors to participate in the marketplace, whether by developing and providing application programs, administrative tools, or programming tools.
Java code is pseudo-compiled into “bytecode”, which is later executed by a machine-specific Java interpreter. The interpreter converts the bytecodes to machine-specific instructions which are executed by the particular computer on which the Java program is being executed. Java defines the virtual computer for which the bytecode is designed as a “virtual machine”, and thus, programming is done as if it is to be executed by the theoretical virtual machine. During actual execution on a computer, one or more Java Virtual Machines (“JVM”) may be created by the computer's operating system, each JVM executing Java programs as if it were a real, independent computer. Java code can also be converted directly into machine-specific executable language using a special compiler, the results of which may also be executed within a JVM.
An enterprise server generally refers to a mainframe class computer which is suitable for running programs of a magnitude commensurate with an “enterprise”, such as making bulk airline reservations online, tracking large real time trading and commodities, etc. Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (“J2EE”), which was developed by Sun Microsystems with other notable partners such as International Business Machines (“IBM”), provides a Java-compliant platform for enterprise class computers, and is in many ways a subset of functionality of the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (“J2SE”).
J2EE provides several key features which make it useful in enterprise computing environments, including support for a “thin client” tiered arrangement between client computers and servers, as well as supporting platform-independence of modules and code (e.g. portability) so that vendors may easily target a wide array of enterprise computers with a single design of software. These features make J2EE an ideal programming methodology for us in a cloud computing service model.
Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four deployment models.
Characteristics are as follows:
On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with the service's provider.
Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).
Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).
Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.
Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.
Service Models are as follows:
Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).
Deployment Models are as follows:
Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.
Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds).
A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes.